YMMV / Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna

• Audience-Alienating Ending: When key information regarding the plot was revealed online due to preview and domestic screenings, many were disappointed by the ending and told others whose countries' screenings were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic to not bother watching the film in theatres. Complaints boil down to "nostalgia bait", "lack of resolution on previously established plot points" and "sequel baiting in a (supposed) finale".
• Awesome Music:
  • With the new Digimon Adventure installment, it only makes sense we get a new Brave Heart to listen to, giving a very nostalgic vibe as the DigiDestined battle against a rampaging Parrotmon in the city.
  • MENOA, an ominous theme that plays during the battle between Omnimon and Eosmon's Mega form, giving off the feeling of utter hopelessness and despair in a desperate battle against an alien foe.
  • Sono Saki e, the theme that plays in the final battle once Agumon and Gabumon achieve their Yuki's Kizuna and Yujo's Kizuna forms. The song gives a bittersweet feeling perfect for the final adventure of the DigiDestined, giving a grandiose vibe to cap off just how powerful Agumon and Gabumon have become, a heartfelt feeling that demonstrates how powerful Tai and Matt's bond with their Digimon has become, and a melancholic feeling representative of the very final moments Tai and Matt have before Agumon and Gabumon leave them.
  • After the tear-jerking ending of this film, Hanareteite mo, which played during the credits, is the perfect send off to the original DigiDestined.
• Broken Base:
  • Kizuna as the Grand Finale of the original Adventure canon. Opinions are split between it being a blatant, poorly written cash-grab that uses audience sympathy and nostalgia to hide its many narrative flaws or a well-deserved and heart wrenching send off for a generation of fans because of said sympathy and nostalgia, as well as Tai, Matt and Izzy acting more like their old characterization rather than the heavily contested ones of their Tri. counterparts. There is barely any middle ground given, particularly due to the message of Growing Up Sucks being applied differently to other countries.
  • The separation rule. A poorly thought-out and implemented Conflict Ball or a perfect metaphor for growing up? Some viewers take a third option by stating that both interpretations apply.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: When Menoa showed up conveniently after the first onscreen coma, many savvy viewers knew she was the Big Bad and her shady assistant was a Red Herring. How she happens to divulge the separation rule without going into detail about her own just cemented it.
• Character Rerailment:
  • In tri., fans criticized how Agumon was Flanderized to be completely obsessed with food and overall became less competent and more dense than he was in Adventure and 02. Here, his love of food is toned down and he's more in line with his earlier characterization.
  • The orignal DigiDestined, or at least those that aren’t Out of Focus, act more like their original counterparts, rather than how they acted in Digimon Adventure tri., which many felt was out of character.
• Don't Shoot the Message: The message of the film seems to be learning to cope with loss and the inevitability of having to adjust to adulthood, and that it's alright to let go of certain things from your childhood if it's actively being destructive or causing problems for you as an adult^note The film portrays Tai and Matt as aimlessly wandering through their last year of the semester without having a clue what they're going to do in life and having some money issues because of it, and using their Digimon as a crutch to keep ignoring that problem, while the Big Bad is the result of a character who tried to grow up too fast and diving deep into a self-destructive obsession with Digimon in order to try and deal with their inability to cope with losing their childhood friend instead of sorting out their own issues. Taken by itself, it isn't necessarily bad. However, the way it ends up being delivered, with needing to Retcon a sudden plot point in order to do it, combined with some unintentional inflammatory comments from the director in interviews thanks to cultural dissonance, ending at the separation with no indication about how the partners will come back outside of Word of God which retroactively makes the Big Bad that was meant to be proven wrong in the right, simultaneously trying to appeal to the very same people the message of this film seems to be trying to shoo away from the franchise while said franchise has largely been relying on Digimon Adventure nostalgia for much of the latter half of The New '10s, on top of releasing another Digimon Adventure adaptation two months later which made many fans think that it is a continuation of Kizuna at first glance and is seemingly geared for nostalgic fans of the series, ending up leaving a very bitter taste in the mouths of those who watch it. This isn't considering the fact that the Digimon Adventure 02 ending is still canon to the series, which clearly shows the adult Digidestined having their Digimon with them, thus making the whole thing a Foregone Conclusion with a dash of Melodrama as we know that the consequences ultimately don't stick in the long run.
• Epileptic Trees: Due to how the age limit rule is implemented in the movie, a viewer came up with the conclusion upon re-watching that what is causing the Digimon partners to really leave isn't that the humans are too old and/or mature but the partners are being cut out of their lives altogether in a rush to grow up. This was also noted to be the reason why the 02 gang kept their own partners, as they keep bringing them along rather than pushing them aside. What caused this massive case of misinterpretation among the detractors was due to the wrong idea itself being heavily advertised in the trailers that made it sound credible despite it being formed by an unhinged person, Gennai's confirmation of the situation along with his vague hint of "infinite possibility" which doesn't exactly point a way out of the problem.
• Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: Judging by the trailer alone, the film has been considered by many to be more of a Rule of Symbolism for the fans who have grown up with the Digimon franchise saying goodbye rather than actually enforcing an arbitrary age limit for those who want a Digimon partner. As adults, they can't enjoy the franchise as they used to due to real-life responsibilities and risk being always looked down upon as a Manchild.
• Franchise Original Sin: A Digimon story ending with the humans and Digimon saying goodbye, possibly forever, has been a staple of the franchise since Digimon Adventure, often times with little buildup to it happening. However, with Adventure, it was just another side effect of Apocalymon's defeat fixing the world and it wasn't necessarily a permanent thing, as shown in the sequel. With Digimon Tamers, it was even more sudden, but fit with the overall tone of Tamers. Digimon Frontier had the humans and Digimon be one being, so there wasn't much issue with them separating as the Digimon were more like Transformation Trinkets. Digimon Data Squad had the partners return to the Digital World due to the actions of the main villains tainting the public's view of Digimon. Digimon Fusion had the separation happen because the worlds were only linked by the villains and their defeat undoes their work, even then much like Adventure, it wasn't permanent. For the Adventure continuity though, the idea of the Digimon disappearing for good just does not fit with the original tone and the fact that it's due to a Retcon just makes it stick out as a cheap way to wring audience sympathy.
• Funny Moments: At a point in the movie, Tai takes Agumon to his new apartment in the meantime after the group learned about the timers. It seemed to be a normal trip... At least until Agumon sniffed out something underneath Tai's bed: Adult magazines and DVDs. To say Tai reacted as expected is an understatement.◊
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!:
  • The biggest issue for the movie's detractors was that it was essentially a copy-and-paste of its predecessor Digimon Adventure tri., particularly the Big Bad being a direct Expy of Maki Himekawa (not only having the same job, background and goal, but even a name starting by M, as well as a bit of the look, being both young women with brown hair), and Sora's arc being essentially a rehash of that of Joe's (only that unlike Joe, she forgoes her duty as a DigiDestined for her career as a flower arranger).
  • From another angle, the ending is disliked by some people for being yet another ending where the human characters are separated from their Digimon for the umpteenth time. After various shows, manga and games doing this exact same ending premise, some fans are sick and tired of it. In this case, it also came with the additional grating that this time the ending is negated by the 02 epilogue being still canon, meaning that all the drama and development generated by the separation are effectively for nothing.
• Jerkass Woobie: It is very hard not to feel sorry for Menoa, as she had her partner Digimon taken away for her simply because she was considered to have grown up mentally even though she was technically still at an age where she should have still been allowed to be a DigiDestined.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Some will watch just the opening of the movie, which first features the Digidestined either getting ready for their future careers or hanging out with the Digimon out in the open, then segues into an exciting battle scene where Tai, Matt, T.K., Kari, and their Digimon team up to fight a wayward Parrotmon in the city. With both "Butterfly" and "Brave Heart" playing, plus the revamped evolution sequences, it's basically what kids watching the original series saw in their heads during the Myotismon arc.
• Special Effect Failure: The battle between Omnimon and Eosmon's Mega form has a few errors throughout it:
  • Even after Eosmon fires the first shot that blasts the armor off Omnimon's Supreme Cannon arm, later shots in the fight would show Omnimon with the shoulder armor still intact (Particularly when he's fleeing from Eosmon and its myriad of attacks)
  • Later on, Omnimon ends up having one of his legs sliced off along with his Supreme Cannon arm. Shortly after, when Eosmon shoots down and finishes him off, he's somehow seen with both of his legs intact as he's falling to the ground before the impact.
• Tainted by the Preview:
  • In light of the announcement that not even this installment will oust the infamous 02 epilogue from canon, the special already received backlash from some fans.
  • The new designs for Agumon -Bond of Courage- and Gabumon -Bond of Friendship- have put some fans off for their more human appearance that fits more into Digimon Frontier than Adventure. Agumon -Bond of Courage- in particular as some think he's downright creepy, which says a lot considering how the Digimon franchise is no stranger to living Nightmare Fuel.
  • The reveal of the plot, that there's a rule introduced out of nowhere that once the chosen children reach a certain age and/or become mature, they lose their partners, has also got that reaction for coming out of nowhere and feeling like it exists only for drama. The fact it caused Hiroyuki Kakudou to leave the production didn't help.
  • Sora flat out retiring from being a DigiDestined to be a flower arranger like her mother to the point of ignoring texts about Digimon entering the real world has not been accepted well by a lot of viewers.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Menoa has very similar background and motives as that of Himekawa's from tri., leaving fans wondering why they didn't follow up on the latter's story instead of coming up with a new character that is essentially the same. The latter, by the way, was last seen facing Uncertain Doom, leaving her character open for a return, but since that return didn't happen, it seems like that doom was certain after all, which a good many fans find disappointing, to say the least.
  • Assuming if Last Evolution Kizuna does continue from tri instead of its own separate thing, we never see how humanity went from treating Digimon as dangerous creatures at the end of that series to living side by side with each other in Kizuna. A story of how the DigiDestined achieved that would have been a more unique and interesting plot. And this is not counting their involvement with Earth's governments...
    • In a similar vein as the above, the film ends after the separation, so we never know how this and 02 epilogue can still be in the same timeline due to contradicting details.
  • Speaking of the other DigiDestined except for Sora, they could have been consulted regarding why their own timers haven't started ticking despite that logically, it is they who should have started their timers first due to having jobs.
  • How and why are auroras causing Digital Gates to open on Earth and have hostile Digimon come forth? It is never explained. After the Parrotmon fight, the whole subplot got dropped like a hot potato.
  • Some wish that the first 10 minutes of the film, which showed the DigiDestined enjoying being around their Digimon out in the open while working as government agents to stop rogue Digimon, had been the main tone of the film.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Due to her lack of screentime, Sora's refusal to fight has garnered a lot of criticism. Even putting aside the Values Dissonance entry on her, she loses Biyomon offscreen without any clear shots of her digivice being in the same state as Tai and Matt's, which would have made the audience more understanding of her situation. The only time her digivice was shown was in a Freeze-Frame Bonus during the intro, which made things even worse.
• Values Dissonance:
  • Sora prioritizing being a flower arranger over being a DigiDestined even when Digimon are clearly invading has garnered a lot of complaints from foreign audiences regarding forced Chickification and Skewed Priorities, saying that it was a detriment to her character like what happened with Joe in the first and second tri. movie. In Japan, it's noted that continuing the family business is considered a major priority when an heir reaches adulthood, so Sora having to become a flower arranger may not exactly be her own decision. Not to mention, given how things were going fine without her involvement, she might be feeling unneeded which pushed her to this decision.
  • Due to how different growing up is regarded in many countries, the Growing Up Sucks narrative of Kizuna, due to it being Japan or East Asia-centric falls flat on many of the international viewers, citing that it is actually different or even the opposite for them should they grow up. For Western audiences, the premise can feel like a slap in face, telling older fans that they cease to be special when they grow up and that the franchise has abandoned them; for Japanese audiences however, the film is intended to act as closure for the franchise, gently encouraging them to embrace adulthood and pursue their professional lives, as watching anime is seen as a childish pastime.
• Win Back the Crowd: Heavily implied by supervisor Hiromi Seki in the initial livestream surrounding the movie's announcement, and generally suspected to be an attempt at this by Toei after the severe negative fallout from Digimon Adventure tri. due to suspiciously specific marketing addressing most of the primary criticisms aimed at tri. (the immediate announcement and performative parading of the 02 characters, the very clear references to its epilogue careers, the heavy advertisement of childhood fans Running the Asylum with assistance from original series staff, and the suspicious omission of any references to tri. in its promotion). Initially, Japanese movie review sites were indeed swarmed by positive reviews from people who professed disillusionment with tri. but conversely were satisfied with Kizuna.

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